United States v. Mott-Frye

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts

April 26, 2017

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,v.AARON MOTT-FRYE, Defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Patti
B. Saris Chief United States District Judge

INTRODUCTION

Defendant
Aaron Mott-Frye, charged with drug trafficking on Cape Cod,
moves to suppress evidence seized by the government during a
car stop. He claims he was illegally stopped, detained, and
searched in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. A
hearing was held. Three witnesses testified at the hearing on
behalf of the government: John Hayes, Special Agent with the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Matthew
Blondin, police officer with the Barnstable Police
Department; and Matthew O'Brien, police officer with the
Sandwich Police Deparment. Mott-Frye's Motion to Suppress
(Docket No. 348) is DENIED.

FINDINGS
OF FACT

I.
The Investigation

State
and federal authorities began an investigation into drug
trafficking activity on Cape Cod in early 2015. Based on
intercepted cell phone calls and controlled purchases of
heroin and cocaine, law enforcement officials concluded that
three individuals -- Christopher Wilkins, Christian Chapman,
and Denzel Chisholm -- were the leaders of a Cape Cod based
drug trafficking organization (DTO). The DTO distributed
large quantities of heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl to
lower-level drug dealers throughout the Cape Cod area.

Investigators
observed Defendant interacting with members of the alleged
DTO and learned that Defendant was communicating with members
of the DTO by phone. During the time of the court-authorized
wiretaps, primarily between August 2015 and April 2016, there
were 426 contacts between Defendant and other members of the
DTO. The government believed that Defendant was a potential
source of narcotics for the DTO.

On
October 22, 2015, Defendant exchanged text messages with
Chapman, and shortly thereafter, at approximately 5:48 p.m.,
officers observed Defendant arrive at Chapman's house in
Yarmouth. About three minutes after arriving, Defendant and
Chapman left the residence in Defendant's car. Defendant
dropped off Chapman at 18 Bodfish Place in Hyannis, MA, a
residence maintained by Chapman as a drug stash house for the
DTO. During this same time, an unindicted co-conspirator
texted Chapman asking for cocaine (“white”).
After Chapman arrived at 18 Bodfish place, Chapman sent him a
text stating “at spot.” The officers then
observed the unindicted co-conspirator arrive at 18 Bodfish
Place.

On
November 4, 2015, investigators were conducting surveillance
of Chapman when they observed Defendant pickup Chapman and
drive to 21 Seabrook Road in Hyannis, the home of a known
gang member. Investigators believed this to be a location
used by members of the DTO, especially Chapman, to sell
drugs.

On
December 5, 2015, Defendant met Chapman at United Barbershop
in New Bedford, MA. Based on surveillance conducted in this
investigation and information learned in previous
investigations, the government believed that someone at
United Barbershop was a source of supply. Defendant drove
Chapman back to Chapman's house at 2 Roberta Drive where
they parked on the street at approximately 9:44 p.m. Then,
via video surveillance, investigators observed Defendant hold
up and pass a knotted bag containing “something
white” to Chapman, which they believed contained
narcotics. After the exchange, Chapman went inside his house
and Defendant went back to Wareham.

On
January 26, 2016, investigators intercepted a phone call
between Wilkins and Defendant in which they were arranging a
sale of 500 grams of cocaine. The government had conducted a
number of controlled buys from Wilkins. After a string of
text messages discussing the deal, investigators then
observed Defendant arrive at Wilkins' house, stay for a
short period of time, and leave. Approximately two hours
later investigators observed Chisholm, whom they believed to
be the purchaser of the drugs, arrive at Wilkins' house.
Investigators believed Wilkins was acting as a middle man for
the sale between Defendant and Chisholm.

Based
on the observation of Defendant's activities on January
26, 2016, Magistrate Judge Judith Dean found probable cause
to believe that Defendant was engaged in drug trafficking and
on February 2, 2016, Judge Dein issued a tracking warrant for
Defendant's vehicle and a “ping” warrant for
Defendant's telephone.

Between
the end of January and the beginning of March 2016, Defendant
was not picked up on any of the wiretaps or observed
interacting with the DTO. The government learned that during
this period of silence Defendant was out of the country in
Egypt for about three to five weeks.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;II.
...

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